The best of moms

There has always been an unspoken argument on what kind of mom a person is. Stay at home mom's have to defend their reasoning for choosing to stay home while working mom's have to defend their reasons for working outside of the home. I normally do not like to get involved in those type discussions. I have friends that are moms, have met some fabulous mom's online in a motherhood/baby forum, and follow other moms and their blogs. In all of those moms there are some that stay home, some that work, and some that have other situations like part time work or school or work at home. There has never been a need to state my reasons for staying home. Then I read an offensive facebook post by a working mom. Then I read a blog post by someone who stated that moms who stay home and try to complete a whole bunch of Pinterest projects all day annoy her. So while normally I wouldn't respond to things like that this time around I do have something to say.

Every situation is different. Some mom have careers they love so they choose to continue working. Some moms don't have an option to stay home and must work for the purpose of an income. Some moms simply don't have the patience to stay home all day. There are women who can have all the patience in the world for children and some do not. Some moms stay home because child care is unaffordable. Some moms stay home simply because they want to and stay home for the first year or two or all the way until their child enters school. I can continue with the reasons and situations but I would be here all night because there are so many variations.

I stay home for a combination of reasons. I simply want to. It is important for me to be here all day while my kids are this small because I want to experience the early learning stages with them. I have all the patience in the world for children, much more than I have for adults. I don't have a career that I absolutely love so to me it wasn't worth going to work for something I didn't like and miss time out with my children for that. Even though I had a great paying job before I had children, if I would have stayed- the majority of my paycheck would have gone to childcare. Again not worth it.  I do admit that I am all over Pinterest. I find educational crafts to complete with the toddler. Does that make me a better mom? Heck no. I just happen to love crafts. Ask my husband- I can spend hours in the craft store. I also use it for recipes and random stuff.

The point of it all is to say that there is no right way to be a mother. Every mother has their own way of being a mother. There is no wrong or right way. No bigger or better way. Every mother tries to do their best. Every mother makes mistakes along the way. Every mother questions themselves along the way. With every choice and decision, every mother only has the best of intentions. (im talking about moms that are normal and sane here)

But to criticize another mother..to put down their choices when you yourself know just how hard it can be...there is no excuse.